


Unfamiliar Familiar

by DiamondWings



Series: Bloom, Love [5]
Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: A little dense at times tho, Angst and Fluff, Cat Familiar Minho, Familiar Minho, Felix best witch, Felix is a cat lady (nothing crazy about that), Happy Ending, Light Angst, M/M, Minho has been Through Some Shit, Minho is an opportunist, Poor bab, Trust Issues, but that's ok, witch felix
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-02
Updated: 2019-12-02
Packaged: 2021-02-25 04:41:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 15,851
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21570973
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DiamondWings/pseuds/DiamondWings
Summary: A familiar without a witch is risking its existence. A witch without a familiar is an unworthy failure. But, together…
Relationships: Lee Felix/Lee Minho | Lee Know
Series: Bloom, Love [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1553968
Comments: 36
Kudos: 331





	Unfamiliar Familiar

**Author's Note:**

> Such an unlikely pair, such an unlikely story, and it was still unclear where it would lead… The possibilities were so vast, and yet Felix knew the couple would lead a loving and fulfilled life. He only hoped it would not end in tragedy for either of them. He was too much of a romantic to want to think about the more painful outcomes. But, until then, decades would pass, still, and a lot could happen on the road to a true happy ever after.  
> He couldn’t think about it too much, though, didn’t want to think about it too much, and so he focused on the ceiling again, another wave of his hand rippling and darkening the otherwise still surface…

Disgusting. Disgusting, stinky, gross, absolutely revolting. That’s how Minho felt once he’d made it out of the pile of trash he’d landed in after teleporting himself across the whole city. Aching, throbbing, burning, agonizing. That was how his body and essence felt after breaking the Bond and taking the barrage of physical curses his summoner had hurled at him in punishment before he could teleport away. Part of his long dark grey and white fur on his left flank was burned, his right hind paw probably broken, his entire body littered in bruises… She’d gone all out, the old hag; he felt as if a steamroller had run him over, then backed up for good measure.

He had to get out of here, though. If his summoner managed to track his signature, she could pop out here any second now. He almost wished she did, just for her to land in the same pile of trash he had, but, as satisfying as that would be, he wouldn’t wait around to see it happen; if it happened.

Instead, Minho limped to the end of the alley, where it opened into a busy street. He quickly looked left and right before darting out and between the people who walked up and down the sidewalks. He had to be careful not to get kicked, as people tended not to look below their waist when they walked, and he didn’t even reach their knees in his cat-form.

A large group of tourists rounded the corner, and Minho fled into another side street, crouching between a trash-can and a vent opening. The air coming from the vent was warm, and he decided to use it to warm up for a bit as he caught his breath. As the noise from the street died down after the tourists were gone, he noticed he could hear voices carried up through the vent opening, and curiosity sparked in him once the word “familiar” fell.

“But I don’t need a familiar, your Highnesses! I have proven time and time again to be able to successfully execute the de-cursing ritual on my own!” A voice pleaded, annoyance and despair laced into the words.

“It is not safe to perform the ritual without a familiar to absorb stray magic, Felix. If you want to perform it for your own private use, that is up to you, but we can not grant you the license to do it for customers. You need to meet all the requirements for us to be able to insure you, and having a familiar is one of the main ones. Without that…”

Minho scrunched his nose in distaste. Witches. Witches who only thought of him and his siblings as tools for their spells and rituals. They disgusted him. He didn’t mind helping in the performing of spells or watching over rituals per se, but he did mind to be reduced to a mere tool to do that. He might have been born through a summoning ritual, but as a familiar, he was still a living being with feelings and a mind of his own, damn it! When would those stupid witches get that through their thick, entitled skulls?

Annoyed, he stepped away from the vent, ready to venture out into the street again. It seemed to have gotten busier, and he had to stick to the sidewalk, staying near the walls for the time being to not get kicked or trampled.

It went well, until he passed a door in the exact moment it opened and someone almost fell over him.

“Ah! What- Oh…! Oh no, kitten, what happened to you?”

And before Minho knew it, he’d been scooped up, gentle but firm hands holding him and quickly transporting him to another side street opening where fewer people walked.

“Who hurt you, baby, hm? That looks nasty! Will you let me help you?”

Minho nearly froze when he felt the magic coming from the person’s hands, but as adrenaline kicked in, he managed to wind himself out of the hold quickly, landing painfully on the floor. Looking back, he found himself face to face with a witch who was looking down at him with pity in his eyes. His heart beat faster, fear near consuming him.

He was a witch-less familiar now; free for any and all witches to claim and enslave again, if they managed to catch him. And there was a witch, a witch who’d already managed to get his hands on him, feel his essence, and who could easily use it to-

“Hey, it’s ok, I won’t hurt you, kitten. I want to help you. Will you let me do that?”

‘Absolutely not!’ Minho thought, backing away from the witch. No way. Not a chance. Definitely not! And with that, he turned, and ran, ran out of the alley, into the throngs of people. He got kicked once or twice, caused some people to stumble, and someone even stepped on his tail. He didn’t care, though, wanting nothing but to get as far away as possible from that witch.

Eventually, he couldn’t run any further, finding another dark corner to hide in and catch his breath. His body hurt even more now, and he really needed a break, a safe space to sit and focus on healing himself. And that was what he did now, focusing on his paw first, then the burn, and finally on the bruises, until he felt less like he’d been run over several times.

He slumped further into the corner, resting for a moment. Healing himself had cost almost all of his magic reserves, while running all the way here had cost him most of his physical reserves. He needed to find somewhere truly safe to rest, and somewhere (someone) to mooch magic off.

Minho grimaced at that. To obtain magic he would have to find a witch, since only a witch could sustain him. They didn’t necessarily need to know about him, though. If he could just quietly absorb stray magic they left floating around… He just needed to find a witch that a: didn’t have a familiar, b: dabbled in spells and rituals that gave off a lot of stray magic illicitly, so he could get enough for himself, and c: didn’t pay much attention to their surroundings, so he wouldn’t be found out…

Unbidden, that list of necessities brought the image of the witch that had picked him up on the street earlier back to the forefront of his mind. He was almost annoyed by how clearly he could recall his features and the feeling of his essence and his magic. And he’d called him kitten! How absolutely condescending, to not even acknowledge him for what he was, only reducing him to his animal form! It wasn’t that he didn’t like being a cat, no; he preferred this form to any other, including the human one. But for a witch to reduce him to this, as if they-… as if they didn’t _know_ , couldn’t see, couldn’t _feel_ what he was! Humiliating, and just so typical for witches and their never ending arrogance and superiority complex!

It was only made worse by the fact how genuine the witch had sounded when lamenting his sorry state, and offering him help. As if he truly didn’t know… Really couldn’t tell…

Minho’s thoughts came to a slow halt.

He had felt the witch’s essence, his aura, his magic, his intentions. There hadn’t been an ounce of malice or arrogance, now that he thought about it. There had only been a desire to help, along with hints of pity, compassion… somehow, even love..?

Minho shook his head. It didn’t make sense, but he was sure that was what he had felt. He never got intentions mixed up anymore, he had plenty of experience reading witches. Granted, normally those were not the intentions he felt, but none of the witch’s intentions had been impure or harmful in the slightest way.

Which again, didn’t make sense, not coming from a witch regarding a familiar. Unless, of course, the witch didn’t _know_ they were dealing with a familiar… Now, that sounded just ridiculous and straight up stupid, but… What if?

The thought kept bothering Minho as he kept replaying the memories of the short encounter in his mind, and he always came to the same conclusion: the witch had not recognized him to be a familiar, despite touching and handling him with his bare hands. He must have been so clueless, a newbie, maybe, or just really incompetent… Either way, he might be exactly what Minho needed right now; no familiar, didn’t recognize him, chances were good that he released copious amounts of stray magic… He absolutely needed to find him! And it wouldn’t even be hard, since he did know the witch’s essence, thanks to him touching him, allowing him to track him, and find him. And that was exactly what he did.

***

Minho froze on the windowsill of the living room on the first floor of the two story house housing the witch and his shop. For good measure, he held his breath, too, as at least fifteen pairs of eyes were fixed on him the second his paws landed silently on the smooth marble surface.

Cats.

It looked as if loads and loads of cats called this place their home, along with the witch. Which… Minho hesitated to draw his conclusions, but one thought managed to steal itself into his mind unbidden: it was sweet. A witch sharing their house with so many cats, that was really sweet. Especially considering that the windows were open and he could tell there was nothing hindering the cats from leaving, but they stayed anyway. That told him at least that the witch must be a good person, which, given the place he came from, was a relief and a reassurance that his choice to check out this witch and his potential to become his new source of magic was the right one. Also, it would make it easier for him to hide, among so many other cats. If only…

A low growl pulled him out of his thoughts, and his eyes darted towards a big cat slowly stalking through the living room towards him. It held its tail high and puffed up, back arched, and looked overall quite menacing with one ripped ear and one eye missing, a large scar bisecting its face instead.

Minho’s heart clenched in sympathy at the sight, and he quickly shifted forms into his human one. The cat stopped in his tracks immediately, staring at him in confusion. Minho carefully let him, along with the other cats in the room, feel his familiar magic and essence. Just shortly, very carefully, intent on making sure the witch would not pick up on it. Instantly, the cats calmed down, losing their interest in him; all but the one menacing looking tomcat and the kitten by the door, which gave him looks that told him that should he mess with anyone in the house, he was on his own.

Minho intended to heed the warning, not interested in causing trouble. All he wanted was a safe place to stay, preferably with a consistent supply of stray magic to live off - nothing more. Trouble was the last thing he wanted, which was exactly why he also intended to not let anyone else except the cats of the house know of his presence and shifted back into his much smaller and much easier to hide cat form before slinking through the living room and towards the door of the apartment, since it was left ajar, allowing the cats to use the stairs to the ground floor and the rooms of the shop down there.

Not a single sound was heard as Minho made his way downstairs, melting into the shadows so well that even someone who knew he was there would have had trouble seeing him. The essence of the witch led him to one of the rooms in the back, a work-room, where he found him murmuring under his breath over a spell.

“Sage, beeswax, nettle-root, fairy dust and sandalwood, fossil ivory, and… where’s the moonstone powder? Ah, there…!”

As he spoke, vials and boxes, bottles and little sacks floated off the shelves towards the work-bench, where they lined up neatly.

“Thank you. That would be twenty one grams of the beeswax… I _know_ that is too little, stop smacking at me, I am not done yet! I just want to get that dark spot off, don’t want that influencing my spell… Just a little more, then… Ah, perfect! Thank you! Now, a pinch of fairy dust… I hate these instructions; how much exactly even is a pinch? Are you sure…? Spoon, what do you think? Well, that looks more like a pinch to me, I- ouch! Scale, stop hitting me! What?! That little?” The witch sighed, shaking his head as he looked at his work bench where different utensils seemed to be arguing. “You know what, let’s just ask the books!” Immediately, all the utensils ceased their movements as the witch pulled over a large tome, its pages turning on their own to show him the right one.

“’A pinch is the exact amount of a substance that fits between the tips of a forefinger and thumb…’ That’s unhelpful; what if you have big hands, or really small hands? No, this won’t do…”

To Minho’s left, a shelf creaked, catching the witch’s attention. Minho ducked further into the shadows, but the witch didn’t pay him any mind as he walked over to the shelf, taking the scroll that was being pushed to the front.

“This one? Thank you, Shelf. Let’s see… Oh~ Neat! Now, fairy dust, fairy dust, fairy dust… Here! Zero point three one four one six grams… Scale, can you measure this exactly?” Angry clinking of small metal plates sounded from the work-bench, and the witch raised his hands in surrender. “I’m _sorry_ , I didn’t mean to offend you! It’s just a very specific amount, down to a hundred thousandth of a gram; it was a warranted question! But ok, good, if you can measure that, I need zero point three one four one six grams of fairy dust- I am _not_ being too rigorous, this is a tricky spell, precision is key!”

Minho watched in rapt fascination as the witch kept arguing with his utensils while putting together his spell. Fascination and incredulity, because he knew this spell; it was a spell not many witches ever mastered, his own summoner having failed in doing so for the past three hundred years, even with his help. And this witch… there was no familiar in sight to help him, there was no way he was going to get it right, no way he could contain the magic that would explode all over the room once he added the moonstone powder in the end, what was this witch _thinking-_

Minho cowered, rooted to his spot, debating what to do yet at the same time unable to do anything as he watched the witch add the moonstone powder to the previous mixture and expecting the worst.

A quick flash of blinding light filled the room for a second, before shrinking into the bottle the witch had filled the ingredients, and dulling down to a low glow that slowly turned into a rich yet gentle golden shimmer before the witch corked it with a sigh.

“I always hate this part; the spots take ages to leave my vision afterwards… I should invest in a pair of welding goggles…” he muttered, blinking harshly to regain his vision and gather his bearings while leaning heavily against the work surface before going to place the contained – successful! – spell in a drawer… which was already holding four other bottles with the same spell!

Had Minho not been in cat form, his jaw would have hit the floor. He couldn’t believe what he’d just witnessed! This witch who barely looked out of his teens with his tousled peach coloured hair, crooked round glasses sitting haphazardly on his freckled nose and wearing robes that looked three sizes too big on him, had just put together a category Triple S spell, on his own, without the help of a familiar, and- there wasn’t even a trace of stray magic in the room. He couldn’t help but stare at the witch in bewilderment as he turned back to his work-bench, clapping his hands and effectively startling Minho to attention again.

“Alright, folks! Thank you very much for your help, you were all amazing, as always! I’m proud of all of you! And I’m going to reward all of you with a deep polishing as soon as tomorrow morning, promise; I’m just really tired right now. It’s been an awful day for me and I’m not feeling all that great right now… They denied my application for a grant to perform de-cursing of animated objects for customers yet again. I know, right? Ridiculous. Anyway, is a superficial clean-up alright for the time being? Aww, loves, you are too nice to me! I love all of you so much! I’ll definitely polish all of you until you are sparkling like new tomorrow morning, promise!”

Minho couldn’t stop staring in awe as the room tidied itself up around the witch, nearly causing him to choke up, and Minho wasn’t far behind. The sentient objects, the shelves and work-bench, the whole room – probably the whole house! – clearly adored the witch. And truth be told, the way he interacted with them all, as if they were not just sentient objects but peers of the exact same value as him, if not more… it would have been more surprising if they didn’t adore him!

He had to shake himself out of his admiring stare, slinking into the shadows under the stairs as the witch left the room. He watched from the darkness as he went to the front of the store and closed up for the day, then went back upstairs. There, Minho followed him silently, still staying out of view to observe him from the shadows. He got a few warning stares from the cats, but otherwise they ignored him as they vied for the witch’s attention as he fussed over them, and followed him into the kitchen.

There, the witch went straight to the pantry, rummaging around in it for a moment and reemerging with a big bag of cat food. Only then did he notice the numerous bowls placed everywhere around the room, some filled with water, some empty. With a low hum and closing of his eyes, the food from the bag appeared in all the empty bowls strewn about. Immediately, the waiting cats made their way to their bowls; every single one of them seemed to have their own, apparently.

Minho still kept to the shadows, reaching out ever so carefully to find the remains of the magic the witch had used to fill all those bowls at once, but… Mere traces that there had once been magic, but no magic in itself was to be found on the food in the bowls, but they were dissolving quickly, and not even those traces were to be found anywhere else.

It didn’t make sense, Minho found, looking closer. The witch had just used magic to fill twenty bowls with food at the exact same time, there should be stray magic bouncing around the room like crazy, and yet… There was nothing. Not a hint, not a tendril, not even a smidge-

He shook his head, clearing it to focus on the witch as he moved through the kitchen, starting to prepare his own dinner between all the cats. He went for something quick, but while eating he was soon distracted by one of the cats, a small tabby, which started climbing the witch’s leg, and he laughed. The sound startled Minho, but not in a frightening manner, and he watched as the witch bent down to gently scoop the little kitten up.

“Hey there, Dori, my love. Mistaking me for a cat-tree again? Yes, sweetie, you can get all the pets you want! No, baby, don’t go lick the dirty dishes, no no no!” He turned to bring the small tabby further away from where she was reaching for the dishes in the sink and booped her nose with a laugh as he reprimanded her and pressed a kiss on top of her head before setting her back down. Next, he scooped another cat up from the counter as it approached his sandwich and cuddled it, too.

“Doongie, you’re not supposed to steal food from someone else, you’ve already had your fill, love. You can’t eat too much, it’s not good for you, even if it tastes soooo good. Why don’t you go play with Dori instead, hm?” He kissed Doongie’s head and set her down, too, but Doongie had no interest whatsoever in Dori and haughtily wandered out of the room with her tail held high.

The witch observed the rest of the cats with an adoring look in his eyes, finishing his own sandwich while checking up on all of them. There were cats he would pet and cuddle, some who he’d let sniff his hands, and others he didn’t try to get too close to as they clearly wouldn’t welcome his touch. Still, he interacted with all of them, making sure not a single one felt left out, before leaving the kitchen.

Again, Minho darted out of sight, watching from a hiding spot as the witch went to bed, taking a big book and at least eight cats with him, which curled up in different spots in the room as he settled down to read.

Minho’s earlier assumption that it was sweet how the witch lived with so many cats was only proven right as he watched him interact with them. He was really a sweet person, that much was confirmed by now, both from how he acted with the cats and with his sentient utensils, furniture and house. Still, that made Minho wary, if only because he was sure now that should he slip up and misstep in this house, the very floor he treaded upon would rat him out to the witch. It bordered a miracle the shadows hadn’t whispered about his presence to the witch already!

***

Minho should have just… not even thought about it, honestly. He definitely shouldn’t have been surprised when, the next morning, the witch didn’t fill twenty, but twenty one cat-bowls with food, placing one right in front of his nose, where he was hiding.

“There you go, beautiful. Come out whenever you feel like it, don’t worry, there is no pressure.” He reassured him with a gentle smile.

Minho stared at the bowl as if it was a snake, and not… unexpectedly appetizing smelling cat food. Still, he could only stare at it while the other cats in the room quickly demolished their own portions.

“It won’t bite you, you know.” The witch encouraged him when he noticed he hadn’t touched his bowl yet by the time he had already eaten his own breakfast. Then, he turned to quickly scoop up the large cat with the slit ear and missing eye from the day before.

“Pax, no. Let him eat in peace; you had your fill, darling. Don’t be mean to him, ok? He’s scared enough as it is.”

Minho stared at the witch as if he was… He didn’t even have words for it. He was feeding a familiar… with cat food? He knew he was there, he could tell he was male, he could even tell he was scared -genuinely; just finding out he’d been found terrified Minho, actually- but he couldn’t feel that he was… not an actual cat? What…?!

Now, if the preparing of the spell Minho had witnessed the day before, and the way no stray magic split off from any magic the witch cast were any indication, this witch was clearly not incompetent; there was no way he was inexperienced, and he was definitely not an air-head. And yet, he interacted with Minho for the second time now, and couldn’t tell what he was?! It made no sense, none at all.

“You’re too scared to eat with all of us in here, aren’t you? We’ll make sure to give you some room. Everyone! Let’s go over to the living room, ok? Tilly, no hiding on top of the cupboards; I said everyone, baby-girl, come on!” As the witch ushered, all the cats, including the long-haired calico on top of the cupboard followed his request, leaving the room, until it was only Minho and the witch in there.

“There you go, some peace and quiet… Take your time, no one will bother you.” The witch reassured gently, then left the room himself.

Minho exhaled slowly, not comprehending what was happening. The witch, he… he really thought he was a cat? He really, genuinely… Minho shook his head. How could that be? A witch who prepared Triple S spells _without help_ , who controlled his magic so well, better than anyone else he’d ever seen in over three hundred years, couldn’t feel a familiar who was right in front of him?

It was ridiculous. But also… To hide, this would have been perfect for Minho. A witch with twenty cats who couldn’t tell him apart from the real cats; it would have been a dream come true. If only there wasn’t the small issue about the lack of stray magic, because that… Minho grimaced. Yeah, that was an issue. He needed that stray magic, he had to feed on it, now that he had no bond to sustain him anymore. He might be safe here, but if the witch really didn’t allow any stray magic to escape, he couldn’t stay; he had to find another source of magic, and quickly. The lack of magic he found to sustain himself was already taking a serious toll on him.

Still, he waited for the witch to go downstairs, before he erased the cat food from existence and came out of his hiding spot to follow him. Maybe if the witch performed a ritual at some point (hopefully soon), there would be stray magic for Minho to feed on. In the meantime, he just had to keep a low profile, stick around but far away enough so the witch wouldn’t feel his magic and essence after all.

He hid in the shadows of the hallway, keeping an eye on the witch as he polished his utensils in the back-room just as he had promised, until the chime of wards in the front of the shop announced the presence of a visitor, and the witch left to attend to their needs. Stealthily, Minho followed him, but a couple of steps before the opening of the hallway, his hackles rose as he felt the disconcerting presence of the witch that had just come in, and Minho quickly found a shelf to cower under. As he took a quiet breath to calm himself, his ears picked up the conversation happening in the front. From his spot under the shelf, he was only able to see what happened behind the counter in the front, nothing more, but there was no way he would follow the witch out there, especially not with that new witch around.

“Morning, Felix!” The witch’s condescending tone grated on Minho’s nerves already, and he had to suppress a growl to keep listening. “I don’t know why I’m here since you’re seemingly the last witch any familiar would go near… But, oh well…!” The witch sighed as if terribly bored, and carried on. “Gunnella from the Sulphur Swamps reported her familiar as feral and missing.”

Of all the things Minho would have expected to hear out of the witch’s mouth, the name of his summoner was not one of them, and it took him completely by surprise. It took him a moment to focus back on the conversation out front, which was hard to follow over the noise of his fearfully racing heart.

“Apparently, he broke the bond and is somewhere in our city. He takes the form of a cat and she swears he should be in a pretty weak and pitiful state, but one never knows… You haven’t seen a cat familiar recently?”

Minho held his breath as he waited for the answer from the resident witch – named Felix, apparently.

“As you just pointed out,” Felix answered, his voice so saccharine sweet and false that Minho’s hackles rose even more, until he would probably easily have been confused with a fluffy, grey, gigantic dust-bunny. “I’m probably the last witch a familiar would want to associate with. To answer your question: No, I haven’t seen any cat familiars recently. All the cats I’ve seen are just regular house cats. Very sorry I couldn’t help you…!”

“Yeah, thought so.” The other witch ignored how Felix sounded anything but sorry, instead throwing a wad of flyers with what Minho assumed must be his description onto the counter. “Anyway, if you do see that cat familiar, please report it to the council, will you…”

As soon as the door closed behind the witch, Felix, huffed, and without having spared them a single glance the flyers flew straight into the trashcan, who chewed them thoroughly and burped a single, confetti-sized snippet back out.

“Like hell,” Felix muttered, quickly dissolving the foul magic his curse had evoked. “If that familiar decided breaking something as sacred as the bond tying him to her and leaving that old hag, he must have had some very good reasons… No way would I turn him in!”

As if to calm himself, Felix seemingly poured all of his focus into petting the cat in his arms (because there was pretty much always a cat in Felix’ arms, unless he was working in the back, Minho was quickly learning).

“I hope that familiar is ok now.” His voice had softened considerably the next time he spoke, after a few long minutes. “It must be scary to be out there, hurt and without the sustenance of a witch’s magic.” He sighed, looking down questioningly at the cat in his arms. “Should we go look for him and make sure he’s ok? Hm, Soonie? What do you think? We could probably hide him from all those searching eyes in here, if you lot help me…”

Minho felt dizzy as he listened from where he sat cowering in the hallway, watching Felix as he told Soonie the pros and cons of hiding the familiar the council was looking for. It was such a contrast of emotions, from finding out his summoner was going to such great lengths to find him - effectively making it virtually impossible for him to find someone else to sustain him - to having Felix not just not caring about turning him in, but actively opposing it and wanting to keep him safe instead.

Minho listened with only half an ear as Felix debated, distracted by his own racing thoughts, but from what he could make out, there were almost only pros to hiding him, according to Felix, with the only con being: “How would I even find him? They’re not wrong when they say I’m probably the last witch a familiar would want to associate with…”

Those words almost angered Minho; any familiar could only _dream_ about being summoned and bound to a witch like Felix! A witch who treated _objects_ , sentient or not, with as much care and gratitude and respect as Felix did. Who treated the most different cats with endless adoration and devotion, regardless if they returned it or not. Who most likely would treat any familiar-

Minho’s thoughts came to an abrupt halt.

Actually, why didn’t he have a familiar?

***

As much as he tried, observing Felix carefully and coming up with the wildest theories – from one of the cats secretly being a familiar who kept Felix from summoning one, to Felix himself being cursed to mess up the summoning ritual every time he tried - Minho couldn’t figure out the real reason why Felix didn’t have a familiar. What he could tell, however, was that the comments from the witch that had come in earlier had bothered Felix deeply. He looked lost in thought most of the day, dejected even, and seemed to lack drive. Eventually he gave in, packed up, closed the store an hour before what would have been normal closing time. He retreated upstairs to his living room and the bookshelf covering almost an entire wall. It took him a while before he chose a book to read, eventually settling on one about how to summon familiars.

The choice in itself made Minho nervous.

After everything he’d seen from Felix, the way he interacted with the cats and even his objects, he didn’t want to believe that Felix could be like other witches, who only saw in familiars tools to be summoned and used. Still, after everything Minho had been through at the hands of his summoner, he found it hard to shake off the fear that that could still happen, though, that Felix might still treat a familiar that was bound to him differently, if he were to think himself exempt from repercussions. He hated that those thoughts were still as present as they were in his mind, but he couldn’t shake it off that even if Felix treated his tools, sentient and not, better than most witches treated even others of their own kind, he still didn’t appreciate himself and his kind to be seen as tools, of means to an end, by anyone!

Sulking and disappointed in Felix’ choice of literature, he didn’t leave the corner he was hiding in while Felix read for hours. Still, as much as he was disappointed by Felix’ choice of literature, he had more pressing matters to deal with. The lack of magic he had managed to absorb in the past two days was starting to become painfully noticeable: he had been starting to have trouble sensing the essence of visiting witches clearly over the day, and now even Felix’ essence was becoming hard for him to discern. It had been becoming hard for him to see the tendrils of magic in spells and charms, and he knew instinctively his own magical abilities would be seriously limited already, even though he didn’t even try to use any of them in an effort to conserve what little reserves he had. He was starting to feel more like a non-magical being, something between a human and a cat, the more his magic dwindled. He needed to decide quickly about what he should do.

He might have been safe here with Felix, but he would start to fade soon if Felix didn’t spare him some magic. And to get Felix to do that… It seemed like the only way was by revealing his true nature to him, which was a scary thought.

He might believe, or want to believe, that Felix would not turn him in, and not treat him badly if he found out he was a familiar, but he couldn’t be sure. The thought of being dependent or even bound to a witch again, for them use him however they pleased, caused Minho to shudder. He quickly tried to dispel those thoughts; he would rather fade than ever be forced into a situation like that again!

Hours passed in which Felix read quietly and Minho sat silently in his corner. That was until Felix lowered the book with a sigh. He set it down and turned to bury his face into the fur of a black and white cat which was sleeping next to him.

“Circe, what should I doooo?” He wailed quietly. Circe looked up, a bored look on her face when she saw it was only Felix burying his face into her fur. With a languid stretch and yawn, she relaxed back into the couch cushions. “I don’t know what I’m doing wrong! Why can’t I summon a familiar? I think I’m doing everything right, in the ritual. I have enough magic, I have all the right ingredients, I set up everything just the way it should be, and I’ve always tried at the exact time of the lunar cycle. I have all the right words and spells…” He started to trail off, before his voice rose again at the end of his small rant: “Why does it never work?”

He sighed, turning back onto his back, and Circe scooted closer, pressing her back against Felix’ side. Felix took to petting her distractedly.

“Maybe Colin is right, and familiars just don’t like me. Maybe they just don’t want anything to do with me. Maybe there is something wrong with me, or with my magic, or my soul.” Felix sighed sadly to himself. The dejected tone of his voice almost made Minho forget that he was disappointed in the witch for trying to summon a familiar in the first place.

Felix stayed quiet for a while, staring at the ceiling, until a large ginger jumped up onto his stomach, sitting down and staring at him pointedly. Felix wasn’t the least bit surprised by her appearance, almost as if he’d been expecting the cat to join him sooner or later. Gently, he started scratching behind her ears as he focused his gaze on her rather than the ceiling.

“I know, Soonie-baby, it’s selfish of me to want a familiar, isn’t it? You are all such good friends already!” He let the cat bump her head into his hand, pausing his scratching momentarily. “I just wish… I just wish I had someone to talk to who answered. Whom I could laugh with and discuss ideas with. Who understands about magic and I can work together with. Magic is fun and all, but it loses its fun when you have no one to _share_ it with.”

Minho was sure he was hallucinating at this point. There was no way-

It couldn’t just-

Felix didn’t just-

 _That_ was why he wanted a familiar?!

“I wish I knew what it is that is keeping me from being able to summon a familiar. If it’s something about the ritual I’m doing wrong, or something about me that just repels familiars, and if it’s something I can fix. I mean, I’m not a bad person, am I?” He cupped Soonie’s face in his hands, making her look at him as he asked his question. Soonie just purred, though, waiting for Felix to resume his petting and scratching behind her ears, which he eventually did.

“They shouldn’t be scared of me, right?” He continued to muse, letting Soonie lie down across his chest as he petted her. “I wouldn’t treat them badly… There are so many witches who treat familiars badly, and still they managed to summon one… So I should be able to do so, too, right? Or am I just… not worthy? Is something about my soul wrong? Am I not meant to have a soul-partner? Or maybe my magic is just not compatible with anyone…” He stopped his petting again, trying to catch Soonie’s gaze. “I just wish I _knew_ , Soonie… But you can’t tell me, either, hm?” He sighed a sigh so wistful, so sad, that it nearly broke Minho’s heart.

“If only you could be my familiar, Soonie.” His voice was barely a whisper at this point, and even Soonie must have picked up on his dejected mood, as she stretched to nuzzle against Felix’ chin. Felix let her, continuing his monologue undeterred. “We get along so well… You’re always honest with me, and you’re so smart, you would probably know how to keep me on my toes with my magic. You’re also caring, you would make sure I don’t do anything stupid, would you?” Calmly, he pushed Soonie a little bit further down on his chest as she started licking at his chin with her rough tongue, before continuing. “We could help so many people, and creatures, and things, if the witching council approved of the bond and I could get the licenses for de-cursing…” Soonie lifted her head curiously n that moment, and Felix ran his had comfortingly over her head. “Don’t worry, I wouldn’t make you help me with those, they are scary and I wouldn’t want you to get hurt… Unless, of course, you’d want to help me, then you’d be very welcome to…” He smiled sadly up at Soonie, but then turned his eyes up to the ceiling again, blinking harshly a few times, his hand falling away from the cat’s soft fur, too.

“But you’re not a familiar; you are a cat. An absolutely perfect cat, but still a cat. And you can’t help me, and I’ll probably never-… I’ll remain a failure forever. I don’t even deserve to be friends with a cat as perfect as you, never mind a familiar…” A tear rolled out of the corner of Felix’ eye, slipping down the side of his face until it dripped on the couch.

The sight of that one single tear flipped something in Minho. So what, if he wanted a familiar so he didn’t feel as lonely? It was a valid thing to feel, and it wasn’t like Felix would ever abuse his familiar; for some reason, after listening to all of Felix’ words, Minho was sure of it. Either way, his heart hurt too much seeing the Felix talk down on himself, for if there was ever a witch who didn’t deserve to hear these words, from themselves or someone else, it was this one.

“You are not a failure.” He spoke up, his mouth faster than his brain. “You are the most brilliant witch I have ever seen.” Only when the words faded in the twilight of the room did Minho realize what he had done; that he had shifted into his human form, blowing his cover, just to reassure the crying witch.

Deathly silence settled over the room for a few seconds, before Felix was scrambling up from the couch, dislodging Soonie, Circe, and three other cats that had been lounging on it with him that Minho hadn’t been aware of until this point. Instantly, a shiny barrier flew through the room, encapsulating Minho. From the way the magic in it crackled and sizzled, Minho just knew that none of his own magic would be able to pierce it. Still, it was not harming him, staying at a safe distance from him, shielding him-… No, shielding Felix and the cats from _him._

“Who are you?!” Felix demanded, voice shaky, looking frazzled, with tear-tracks on his face and looking far too out of it.

Minho couldn’t answer; not because he didn’t want to, or because he was scared. It all boiled down to the fact that his magic was slipping out of his control. He knew his form was flickering and taking up too much of his magic, and he gave up trying to maintain the human appearance. If he had better control over his form, he would have owned up to his identity and the anonymity would have gone on it’s own terms, but that option was out of the window now.

Felix’ eyes widened as he recognized his cat-form, causing the barrier between him and Minho to flicker and become more translucent.

“You… You’re…” Felix shook his head as if to clear it, blinking his eyes forcefully, just to make sure what he was seeing would still be there after opening them again. “You’re a… a familiar? Wait, no… You’re… You’re the familiar they are looking for, right?”

‘Bright, intelligent, capable…’ Minho listed in his mind, replacing the adjectives he had pinned on the witch after his first impression on him. He should have figured by now that there was no point in trying to fool Felix. There was just no use. But now he was stuck, what magic he had had to turn into his human form used up, and he couldn’t answer Felix’ question. Unless…

Minho nodded in assent, which he was well aware must look quite strange from a cat. He decided cat mannerisms were nice and all, but there was a time for those, and then there was a time when he needed to communicate with as humanoid as possible mannerisms while he was stuck. Now was such a time.

Felix didn’t seem to mind, though, and he sighed, nodding, and the barrier faded slowly around him.

“You could have said so sooner!” Felix exclaimed, shaking his head as he ran a nervous hand through his hair, starting to pace with short, slow steps. “You’re stuck now, aren’t you? How long has it been since you broke the bond…?” He froze in his pacing, tilting his head to fix Minho with a worried look as a thought hit him. “You must be all out of magic!”

Minho nodded again, feeling like he could cry over how quickly Felix figured him out; figuratively, of course, since he wasn’t exactly able to cry in this form, not in the human sense of the word.

He was quickly pulled out of his thoughts when Felix started to approach him.

“You avoided me earlier. Will you still avoid me now? I can give you some magic, so you can shift and talk. And we can, I don’t know, figure out what is going on, and… everything?”

Minho sat still, rigid even, watching Felix come closer while never breaking eye contact. Felix stopped, his hand outstretched about a palm width away before it started glowing gently.

“It’s ok, you can take it…” Felix encouraged him quietly. After a short moment of hesitation Minho decided to take the offer; not only did he not have much of a choice, but his entire body was aching from the lack of magic at this point, since he used up what was left of his reserves. Nervously, he stepped forward, stretching to bump his head against Felix’ hand.

Instantly, he could feel Felix’ magic flowing through his body, and it was different from anything he had ever felt before. There was no chaos, none of the raw energy he was used to, no darkness and none of the pungent smell of phosphorus and iron, only… There was almost no smell at all, if any just that of a fresh spring breeze, but without the biting cold. The magic felt like pure light, controlled but bright, filling even the last, smallest recesses of his being.

In no time, he felt as if he was on the verge of bursting with magic, and he had to take a step back, and another, and another, in fear of burning up with an overload of magic. As he did, Felix stayed where he was, crouching still, but retracted his hand to himself as he looked at Minho expectantly.

Minho swallowed thickly, knowing it was time. There was no way out for him from this; at least not really. Of course, he could make a run for it, but what then? He would use up the magic he had just received looking for another witch as kind as Felix? He didn’t think so. It left him with one option: Minho shifted again.

Felix’ eyes widened curiously as he took in his form, tilting his head with a smile.

“Feeling better?” He asked, and Minho nodded.

“Yes… Thank you…”

A small gasp escaped Felix’ lips, his eyes widening further.

“By the crooked tail end of the middlemost brushwood of my broom… You sound _adorable!”_ He quickly covered his mouth with his hands when he realized he’d said that out loud.

Minho blinked in confusion. That was the last reaction he would have expected from the witch.

Felix’ eyes widened as a light pink flush coloured his cheeks. “Sorry, sorry, I didn’t mean to say that… It’s true, though! Anyway! Not what we’re here to discuss right now; focus, Felix! I, uh, what’s your name?”

“Minho.” He answered reflexively, holding his breath right after to keep from cursing out loud. How could he give his name out so carelessly?! That was a sure way to land back in slavery in no time whatsoever!

Felix didn’t seem to be thinking anything by it, though, cooing as he clapped his hands together excitedly.

“That’s a cute name! I’m Felix!”

Minho didn’t know what to say to that. He could only stare at Felix in bewilderment and confusion as his feline mannerisms were too ingrained in him to have a human response.

Felix groaned quietly at his lack of response; not at Minho, but rather at himself, though.

“Of course, you know that; I just said it.” He hit his forehead with his palm. “Sorry, I’m- Kind of excited, kind of terrified.” He rushed out, clenching his hands in the too-long sleeves of his robes, so only the tips of his fingers peeked out. “I’ve never interacted with a familiar before!”

Minho could tell, but he wasn’t all that put off by it, even if his body language might have indicated that. Again, he chose to blame his too rigid stance and lack of major reaction on his part on his deeply ingrained cat mannerisms. It must still be making Felix nervous, though, as he shifted his weight restlessly from one foot to the other.

“I-… I don’t know, uhm, would you like a tea? Something to eat? Please, help me out here, what do you offer a familiar when they visit? I don’t think that was ever covered in any lectures, seminars or books about familiars, as far as I can remember.” Felix almost begged, getting up from where he’d been crouching and running a hand through his hair, clearly stressed.

“We don’t need anything like that…” Minho answered when the wave of bewilderment finished rolling over him.

“I know you don’t _need_ it, but, you can have it, right? Or do you just not like it? Is there something else I could offer you?” Felix asked him almost imploringly. It dawned on Minho that this form of hospitality must be a coping mechanism for Felix, and so he decided to indulge him, even though he was probably just as stressed as the witch.

“No, I like it. I like tea. Tea would be lovely…”

Felix’ face lit up, and he turned to run to the kitchen quickly before he caught himself in the doorframe and turned back to Minho.

“Make yourself comfortable, I’ll be right back!” And with that, he left him.

Minho could only look at where he had disappeared with an expression of utter befuddlement on his face, but he did take the invitation to sit on one of the armchairs around the room as he waited for Felix to come back. As soon as he did, one of the cats, a ginger that wasn’t Soonie, jumped up onto his lap, and he began petting her reflexively. The motion was calming, and he could really use something to calm himself down as he waited.

“Wow! How did you get Doongie to sit on your lap?!” Felix’ voice suddenly cut through the silence of the room, before he set a tray with a tea pot and cups, milk, lemon, sugar and cookies down.

Minho looked up, slightly puzzled.

“She… She just jumped up?”

Felix gaped at him, shaking his head.

“Amazing. You have the Doongie stamp of approval. I’ve never seen her let anyone but me touch her. Are you some kind of cat-whisperer? Wait. You are a cat familiar, of course! Can you talk to them?”

Minho found a small, amused smile steal itself onto his lips as he shook his head slowly.

“I can’t communicate with them any more than you can, except through body language.”

“Ah, see, that’s so cool, though! I wish I could do that. I mean, I could probably use a spell to transform into a cat on myself, but… I’m not sure I would actually want that. What if I mess up and get stuck? I don’t think I would like that. Then again… What is it like to be a cat?”

Minho was confused by the train of thought and the direction the conversation was taking. He wasn’t entirely put-off by it, though.

“It’s… freeing, in a way. Cats are very good at climbing, jumping, running… It’s like there are no limits to what they can do.” He answered honestly, and Felix thought about the answer.

“I suppose you have a point… But, I think I’m quite attached to my opposable thumbs, anyway. They are just so… handy!” He giggled at his own silly pun, and Minho found himself smiling with him. It took a moment but he shook his head, trying not to get caught up in the ridiculousness of this situation. He had just revealed his true identity to this witch, who offered him tea and cookies, and then they were discussing the pros and cons of being a cat mere five minutes later. It didn’t make sense, and Minho wasn’t entirely comfortable with it. He preferred to find out where he stood with Felix as soon as possible.

“Are you not going to ask me why I ran away?” He asked, suspicion creeping into his voice as he gave Felix a wary look. “Why I’ve come here and hidden this from you? And are you not going to kick me out?”

Felix sat down on the couch he’d sat on before, shaking his head lightly while pouring himself a cup of tea.

“Anyone with a bit of sense would want to put as much distance as possible between themselves and Gunnella. She’s a horrible person and witch. I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised if she treated you like crap, too. Besides, with the whole city chasing you, I get why you would want to hide until you could get an understanding of whether I would turn you in or not. Which I won’t, by the way, nor will I kick you out. You are free to leave if and whenever you want to, though.”

Minho inhaled deeply, slowly, exhaling in the same manner as he let Felix’ words sink in.

“I can’t leave safely, though… But, are you saying you are willing to let me stay? Even if you might get in trouble for it?”

Felix snorted.

“No one believes any familiar would want to be close to me anyway. And if you were caught here, I could still claim that you were always one of the more feral cats and that’s how I didn’t feel your magic. Actually, why didn’t I feel your magic?!”

Minho shrugged.

“I have been asking myself that the whole time, too. I was hoping you had an answer for that…”

Felix shook his head, running a finger along the lip of his cup, dejected.

“I don’t. This is mortifying! Not only can I not summon a familiar, but I also can’t even recognize one’s magic…!”

“To be fair on you, I didn’t really have any magic whatsoever left from the moment I came here. Unless you were looking for my essence, you would always have had a hard time finding me. I was hiding, after all.”

“But you did still have magic when I picked you up on the street by the Witching Council, didn’t you? Because that was you, wasn’t it?”

Minho nodded ever so slowly, and Felix hummed to himself.

“Thought so. I wasn’t sure, but I thought you looked familiar when I first saw you in the kitchen this morning.” Felix sighed, taking a shaky sip of his tea before continuing, his eyes fixed on the carpet to avoid Minho’s. “So, yeah, I apparently can’t recognize familiar magic, either, on top of not being able to summon one.”

Minho grimaced internally, too used to hearing the way witches talked about familiars, but had to remind himself of what he had heard of how Felix thought about familiars moments before.

“How often have you tried?” He felt the need to ask, though.

“Eight times. I’m starting to believe that I’m just not meant to succeed, and to be alone forever. Familiars just seem to not like me.” Was the dejected answer he got, and it honestly surprised Minho to hear that high a number. That, and-

“I like you.”

Felix’ head snapped around and he looked at Minho, incredulous, and all Minho could do was shrug.

“I’m a familiar, and from what I’ve seen in the past two days, there is nothing about you that isn’t likeable.”

Felix shook his head slowly.

“That is very kind of you, Minho… Are you sure you aren’t biased, though?”

“No. I don’t like witches as a rule, all of them. But you are a surprising exception even to me.”

Felix chuckled softly at that.

“Brutally honest. I like it!” He gave Minho an approving grin, before his expression became more business-like.

“If you’re going to stay, I need to know what your needs are. I suppose cat-food won’t cut it, even in your feline form. So, tell me: what can I do for you?”

Minho’s eyes widened, but he averted his gaze, unable to meet Felix’ as he asked him so bluntly.

“All I need is somewhere the council-witches and my summoner won’t find me. And… magic, to feed off.”

Felix nodded pensively.

“That shouldn’t be too hard. As I said, no one believes a familiar would come near me at this point, and as for the magic… How do you normally feed on it? And how often?”

“Well… Normally, when bonded, I live through the witch’s magic. I don’t use it up, I merely exist through it. I wield my own magic, but since I’m not bonded anymore, I use up magic that isn’t my own or stray magic. Stray magic would be the easiest, since no one would feel the loss and it needs to be cleared anyway.”

Felix nodded slowly, then sighed with a shake of his head. “And you had to go and find the one witch in town who doesn’t allow any magic to stray to begin with…”

“The one witch in town who doesn’t turn a stray familiar in indiscriminately found me first, if I remember correctly.”

Felix laughed quietly.

“You do remember correctly. And while I’m probably the one witch in town who has the least idea about how to care for a familiar, I promise I will do my best to learn. If you teach me, I will be your most attentive apprentice.”

Minho’s eyes widened in surprise, just to narrow with a healthy dose of suspicion. He felt nothing but sincerity in Felix’ words and intentions, though.

“If you could just give me some magic like you did earlier every few days, that would be enough…” He found himself asking almost bashfully, but Felix’ expression lit up.

“Of course! Now…” Felix’ eye wandered over the table to Minho’s empty cup. “Do you not want tea? It’ll get cold. Just serve yourself. I won’t judge, even if you take milk _and_ lemon at the same time in yours!”

Minho shook his head slightly. He feared he’d get whiplash if he didn’t get used to Felix’ very random and unexpected changes of subject.

Another thing he’d have to get used to, but which he didn’t mind at all, was that Felix was probably the only witch to ever exist who treated a familiar – him – as an equal.

***

Despite Felix’ reassurances and overall impeccable behaviour regarding Minho, Minho couldn’t help but remain careful and suspicious most of the time. Over three centuries of living with the poster-child of a power-abusing bi-… witch had made him extremely cautious. And so, he stayed in his cat-form most of the time, mingling with the other cats or hiding in the shadows, observing Felix from afar.

That was what he was doing a fortnight later, observing Felix as he did nothing more exciting than read behind his sales counter with Soonie on his lap. He felt his hackles rise, putting him on guard, and seconds later the same essence he’d felt on his second day with Felix washed through the shop, even before the same witch that had brought the fliers describing him opened the door.

“Morning, Felix!” The witch greeted, and Minho nearly hissed. “What are you reading? Oh, familiars? You really haven’t given up yet?!”

Felix slammed the book shut, stowing it under his counter. Minho actually growled at the wave of discomfort he felt coming from Felix. Because of the shared magic between them nowadays, he had become extremely attuned to Felix’ emotions and moods, which meant he could tell that Felix was _not_ happy. Automatically, that led to Minho hating the witch that had just come in.

“Never.” Felix stated firmly, forcing his hands to lie still on the counter. “I need one, if only for the council to finally give me the license to practice all those rituals _I_ don’t even need a familiar’s help for!”

The officer witch chuckled deprecatingly, clearly not believing Felix.

“Admirable determination. Any progress so far?”

Felix shrugged. “Not really. I’m going to make sure I’m as prepared as possible before I make my next attempt. I do, however, have some final preparations left to do.”

Minho frowned, not liking the turn the conversation was taking. Was Felix just putting up a front and making all that up to throw the witch off, or was he being serious…?

“Hmm, well, good luck. Anyway, I must have been mistaken, then…” He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. “I seriously thought I had felt familiar magic coming from your shop for a second…” He chuckled, and Minho could feel Felix freezing inside, but he hid it well.

“Yeah, you’re not the first!” Felix huffed, stemming his hands on his hips. “Everyone is after my cats these days! Four of them are still missing, it’s honestly upsetting. Does no one know that regular pets who live with witches for a long time often develop energy signatures that resemble familiar magic? Looks like I’m not the only one who should polish up their knowledge on familiars! I really miss Bowie, Mina, Stump and-” he came to an abrupt stop, narrowing his eyes in thought. “…wasn’t the missing familiar grey and white? Karen is a ginger, and they took her! We should suggest free eye exams and colour blindness correction for the humans to the council, if they can’t tell a ginger cat from a black and white one!” Felix huffed again, going as far as to stomp his foot. He was actually genuinely upset about those four cats’ disappearance. From previous rants from Felix, right after each of their disappearances, Minho knew that they weren’t ones to wander off for a long time. If they were gone, it was because someone had taken them.

The officer witch chuckled derisively, clearly doubting Felix’ sanity. His condescending looks didn’t endear him at all to Minho, who found it increasingly harder to stay hidden and not come out to leave some nasty scratches on the witch’s face. Thankfully, he started turning towards the door, leaving in a semi-hasty retreat.

“Yeah, yeah, you do that, Felix. Might be a good idea. Anyway, I have to go. Uh… Have a good day!”

Felix nodded. “You too. And if you see my cats at the council’s head office, send me a raven so I can pick them up!”

“Yeah, uh, will do…! Bye, Felix!” And with that, the officer was gone.

Felix glared at the door that had closed behind him. “How much do you want to bet he won’t send me a raven even if he sees one of your siblings, hm?” He asked Soonie, who was still sleeping in his lap. “Yeah, thought so, too… It’s not even worth a bet…” Felix sighed when Soonie didn’t answer – obviously.

***

Minho couldn’t detect any suspicious activity from Felix’ side for ages, unable to tell if he was serious about trying to summon and bond a familiar to him or not. It was a worry that stayed with him constantly, though, but eventually became less pressing as time passed.

The novelty of the search for Minho wore off over time, too, with everyone slowly realizing that with every day that passed without the familiar being found, the probability that he was still in the city, or even alive, decreased. Still, Felix’ front was tested a few more times, but every time he ended up throwing Minho’s pursuers off their path, and Minho stayed safely tucked away somewhere in the house.

He was often found cuddling with some of the other cats, who’d finally accepted him, both in his cat and human form. If he wasn’t there, he was found lounging somewhere close to Felix when he wasn’t in the shop, as opposed to far away as he was in the beginning. He even started sleeping on Felix’ bed at some point; always in his cat form and on top of the covers, but still.

The four missing cats returned home, too, much to Felix’ delight, and slowly, all turned out to be well in the world again.

That was, until Minho found that Felix was really going to try his hand at the familiar summoning ritual again.

The conditions couldn’t have been better. It was a Sunday, the seventh of the month, and a full moon…

“What are you doing?” He asked Felix, interrupting his preparations, not wanting to believe what he was seeing and what his senses were telling him.

“I’m setting up everything for a ritual.” Felix answered, distracted, as he counted the objects on the work table in front of him.

Minho nodded. “I can see that. Is it… Is it the ritual I’m thinking it is?”

“If you’re thinking summoning a familiar, then yes.”

Minho was unable to mask the hurt that clearly flashed across his features, the same way he was unable to keep it out of his heart.

“Why?”

Felix blinked rapidly in confusion.

“What do you mean, why? I’m a witch, I need a familiar to help me with some things, like getting my licenses for de-cursing animated objects and living beings, among other things...”

Minho inhaled sharply, too many conflicting emotions warring inside him. He hated that Felix really wanted to summon a familiar for something like that. But then, he had no right to feel hurt about that. It was the law for witches, and Felix didn’t make that law but still had to abide by it. At least he knew his intentions were only pure, and Felix only wanted to help. But…

“ _I_ can help you with that!” Minho took a step further into the workroom, closer to Felix as desperation rose in him.

Felix shook his head, though, driving another sharp pang of hurt through Minho’s heart.

“With the performance, yes. But I would have to register you as my familiar for the license, and I can’t do that. They would test our bond, and we don’t have one.”

Minho gaped at Felix, the pain those words sent through his heart – no, his whole being – surprisingly sharp. And it was in that moment he realized-

“We _do_ have a bond…!” His breath hitched as the truth of his words hit him just as he spoke them, leaving him slightly breathless and definitely reeling.

Felix sighed, crossing the room to cup Minho’s face gently in one hand, caressing his cheekbone with his thumb. Despite feeling hurt by Felix’ words, he couldn’t help but lean into the touch, savoring it as it soothed the bond he hadn’t known existed until just moments ago.

“We do, Minho, but not the kind of bond that they would test. You’re not bonded to me by laws of magic, only by…” He made a helpless gesture with his free hand, and Minho caught his hand in his own just as his feline gaze caught Felix’.

“We have a bond, though…” Minho could only repeat in a pained whisper, sounding desperate and helpless even to his own ears.

“I know, Minho. But just because I’m trying to summon a familiar who would be bonded to me, that doesn’t mean I’m kicking you out or anything.”

Minho inhaled a deep, shaky breath, then let go of Felix’ hand, taking a step back to gather his bearings

“A bonded familiar wouldn’t tolerate me near you… But… If it’s that important to you… Then you should go ahead.”

And with that, Minho turned and left, leaving a considerably shaken-up Felix behind.

As he was looking for a place to think, he could tell that Felix hadn’t considered that a bonded familiar might not tolerate an unbonded one near their bonded witch. He trusted Felix enough by now to know he wouldn’t purposefully do anything that would send Minho out to the streets; he knew Felix had been honest when he’d promised him he’d protect him and that he was safe here!

Minho hid in the bathroom upstairs, locking the door even though he knew that the cats wouldn’t have been able to open it even if he hadn’t locked it, and that Felix could open it without a problem if he wanted to even if it was locked. He didn’t care, though. It gave him a sense of privacy and comfort that he desperately craved now.

He was so distraught he didn’t even think to shift as he sat in the windowsill of the bathroom window, looking over the rooftops of the houses on the other side of the street.

He didn’t remember when it had happened, that this bond to the witch had started to form. He couldn’t remember any specific moment, but now that he thought about it, he could feel it as one-sided as it was. The bond was technically invisible but he could still feel the strain of magic connecting him – binding him – to Felix. And this was no bond he could break. It was completely different than the bond that had bound him to his summoner. This bond-

He forced his thoughts to come to a stop. They were useless. He didn’t want to break the bond, even if he could. Everything in him rebelled against the mere thought! As much as it was surprising that the bond had formed, it was also… not surprising at all. Not when Felix was who he was, the way he was, the witch he was…

He was interrupted in his thoughts by a knock on the door, and while he knew – of course, he did – who was on the other side, he debated not answering for a moment. Would Felix leave him alone if he didn’t, or would he force the lock with magic?

“Minho? Are you in there?”

Minho wanted to just not answer, but… How could he not?

“Yes.” He answered, because of course he did.

“Can you let me in?” Felix tried, and Minho held his breath. If he said no, would he just come in anyway? Or would he respect Minho’s wish to be alone? But… was that really what Minho wanted?

The answer to that was a clear no, as Minho unlocked the door with his own magic before he was even fully aware of what he was doing.

However, Felix took that as the invitation it was, opening the door slowly. Before Felix could step into the room, the small striped kitten Felix doted on, Dori, managed to sneak inside, jumping up onto the windowsill where Minho was sitting and climbing into his lap, much to the familiar’s surprise.

“You have an ally in her, you know…” Felix started, and Minho looked up from the kitten with a confused expression while automatically starting to pet her.

“She must have come in while we were talking, and just after you left, she shattered the crystal ball. No summoning is happening today.”

Minho’s eyes widened, and Felix gave him a tentative smile.

“Can we talk, Minho…? About… this? I don’t want to lose you… Not because of another familiar, not because of anything… But there are some things I need to talk to you about.”

Minho thought about it for just a second, then cradled Dori to his chest as he nodded and hopped off the windowsill.

“I suppose you don’t want to talk to me about it in the bathroom, right?” His voice sounded scratchy, but there was a trace of hope in it that he didn’t dare feel after Felix’ words.

If Felix heard it, he didn’t show it as he smiled lightly and shook his head.

“No. I’d like to talk to you somewhere we can be alone, though; no cats. My bedroom?” He nodded towards the door down the hallway, and Minho agreed. Felix led the way. With a soft growl from Minho, the three cats lounging on Felix’ bed got up and left the room, and after setting Dori down so she could leave, too, Minho closed the door behind the cats. Felix waited tensely, fingers worrying on a loose thread on the sleeve of his robes until Minho finally faced him, straightening up.

“I don’t know how I should say this without it sounding really bad to you…” Pretty much instantly, Felix began explaining himself; which Minho was grateful for. He was not in the mood to dance around whatever it was Felix wanted to discuss with him. “But I really want to expand my magic services and skills, and I need a bonded familiar to be able to do that. There is no way around it… But… I really don’t want to lose you.” Felix rushed out, biting his lip as he averted his gaze to the floor. “I’m just afraid that if I don’t summon a familiar now and you help me for now, you’ll decide to just up and leave from my life one day, and I’ll be stranded again. And then it might be too late for me to ever summon a familiar to help me myself. I’m scared of putting all my trust in you right now, just to be let down hard one day when I can’t fix the repercussions anymore, because really there is no guarantee that you’ll stay with me…” He admitted, hunching in on himself as his voice grew quieter towards the end, when he noticed Minho shaking his head.

“There is.” Minho declared, almost too quiet for Felix to hear, and Felix clearly didn’t understand what he meant.

“There is what?”

“There is a guarantee.”

Felix narrowed his eyes in thought, coming up blank at what it could possibly be that Minho meant. “How so?”

Minho took a deep, shaky breath, exhaling it slowly.

“I love you.” He declared simply, knocking the wind out of Felix’ lungs. He didn’t know how to reply to that.

Minho decided to fill the prolonged silence by explaining himself; it was probably stupid, but he needed Felix to understand, and if that required him spilling his guts to him… Well, there was no point to hide it now anymore, anyway.

“I love you; and there is only one bond that is stronger than that of a familiar who loves a witch. This is a bond that cannot be broken, because we only give our heart once, and it’s forever. I would never leave you, unless you cast me out. And even then, the bond will not break.” Minho’s gaze didn’t waver, steadily fixed on Felix, holding the witch entranced.

Felix was visibly shell-shocked, his lips parted in a silent gasp and eyes unfocused as he tried to gather his bearings enough to ask a question.

“But… but I thought… Isn’t this… the bond that bound you to… to Gunnella? And that’s why you can only bond once?”

Minho shook his head fiercely, the mere idea repulsing him.

“No! Never! Hardly a familiar is ever bonded by love to their summoner, at least not originally. It is very easy to coerce a newly summoned familiar into a magical bond, but not a bond of love. A bond of love can only come from an adult familiar, and it doesn’t come easily.”

Felix chewed on his lip as he thought about it, thoughts racing in his mind with an intensity Minho could almost swear he heard the rush in their wake.

“What does that mean for us, in a concrete way?” He asked eventually, and Minho swallowed thickly as he took to explaining.

“It means that we do have a bond, a bond that can’t be broken unless I die. A bond that is stronger than any magical one, and one that can be fortified to the point your council can test it. Only you can do that, though, and I can’t tell you how; it’s forbidden.”

As much as the thought was scary, Felix had to know if he wanted even the most minimal chance of Felix completing the bond and allowing Minho to stay.

Felix gaped at him, then snapped his mouth shut audibly. “How am I supposed to find out how to do it, then?”

Minho shrugged, but there was no nonchalance to it. “I am not allowed to tell you, Felix. I physically can’t. I can’t even give you hints.”

Felix visibly forced himself to stay calm, taking a deep breath.

“Ok… Ok. If you can’t, it’s not your fault. It’s ok…” He smoothed the front of his robes down in a physical effort to collect himself, too. “So, this means that technically, you are bonded to me and not leaving until I ask you to. Or another familiar makes you, somehow…” He gave Minho a questioning look, assessing if he had gotten everything right so far, and Minho nodded. Felix continued: “We can’t register you as my familiar, though, until I’ve completed the bond… Won’t there be problems with you legally becoming my familiar when you’ve been Gunnella’s registered familiar before?”

Minho shook his head. “This bond ranks higher than the magical one that bound me to my summoner. She might seek vengeance against you, but I won’t let her harm you, so don’t worry about that!” He added quickly.

Felix shook his head. “Gunnella doesn’t scare me, Minho. And I don’t want you to put yourself in harm’s way for me. What’s still unclear to me, though, is pretty much everything about how this bond works, once it’s complete.”

“It works just like the magical bond. But… There’s a bit more. Which I also can’t tell you about.”

Felix gave Minho a pointed look, but relented. “This is quite the bomb you dropped on me, Minho… I really need to find out how to complete this bond now.”

***

It was a pain that he couldn’t help Felix find the answer to how to complete the bond. It was almost just as painful to watch Felix struggle and not find the answer to complete the bond, when the answer was so simple. Minho had to remind himself time and time again to not get his hopes up. He was just a familiar, and Felix a witch, and witches didn’t-… Not even witches like Felix. He was lucky that Felix was giving him as much as he already did, he truly had no right to ask for anything more.

As he watched Felix look for the answer, though, poring over book after book, consulting with other witches, asking the fortune and trying to coax the answer from the ether through different rituals, Minho couldn’t help it that his behaviour towards Felix changed over time.

He found himself seeking to be closer to Felix at all times, and a lot more time in his human form. He sought physical contact whenever Felix was sitting somewhere motionless for longer than a few minutes, cuddling up to him in both as a cat and as a human. He worked hard on persuading Felix to let him help him with spells and rituals that were designed for a familiar’s help, even if Felix could perform them on his own. He encouraged him to use him for more complicated spells Felix had never tried before due to being alone, regardless of his usual stance of despising being used.

It was fun to work with Felix, though, and they were a great duo; even Minho had to admit that. It made him stupidly proud when Felix praised him one day on how he could rely on him blindly, improving his work immensely, and how even the spells and rituals that Felix didn’t necessarily need the help of a familiar for turned out eons better with Minho’s help.

More than that, though, Minho relished in the happiness that radiated off Felix whenever they successfully completed or improved a spell or ritual together (and not just because a happy Felix was an even more cuddly and affectionate Felix than regular Felix). That didn’t mean that Minho didn’t take full advantage of it, and it wasn’t like Felix minded. In general, Felix didn’t seem to mind anything that Minho did, and Minho’s fear that Felix would most likely at least ban him from sleeping in his bedroom after learning about Minho’s love for him proved to be unwarranted, too.

So, Minho continued to hop onto Felix’ bed in his cat form, curling up behind his knees, shortly after Felix went to bed every night. That was, unless Felix climbed into bed and demanded cuddles first; and while Felix loved kitten cuddles, and Minho was quickly becoming his favourite kitten even though he always promised to love all the cats equally, he learned to appreciate human Minho cuddles more and more each day.

“Don’t shift, please?” He asked timidly, one night, after they had cuddled on the bed and read together for a while.

“Hm?” Minho hummed in question, asking Felix with his gaze what he meant.

“Tonight. Don’t shift into your cat form. Please. If that’s ok…”

Minho melted at the request, his heart thumping loudly as his chest felt as if it was about to burst with joy.

“Ok…” He agreed, and Felix turned to cuddle into him some more, turning the lights off with a mere thought. Minho didn’t even mind that Felix would be able to hear how loud and fast his heart was beating with excitement; he had nothing to hide from Felix anymore, and he could _feel_ the other’s smile against his chest. Felix was happy, and happy Felix meant a happy Minho.

***

From that night on, Minho slept in his human form next to Felix every night. He had to spend more time as a cat during the day to compensate, but his cat form was better when it came to helping Felix with his spells and rituals, anyway.

Felix was a little frustrated that he couldn’t find a way to complete the bond, which meant it was impossible for him to register Minho as his familiar and get the license to actually _use_ all the new things he learned with Minho’s help. More often than not, whenever his mood dropped, Minho was right there to catch it and lift his spirits. This meant, eventually Felix learned to rely on Minho when his mood began to sour.

“Minhoooo… I don’t think I can do it… I don’t know what to do to complete the bond! Why does it have to be forbidden for you to tell me what I need to do?” Felix pouted, planting himself in Minho’s lap, since there was no room left next to him on the couch as the cats flocked to his side at any given moment.

“I know it’s unfair and I really want to tell you, but… This has to come from you, and you alone…” Minho sighed, wrapping Felix up in his arms and holding him close, his own heart breaking both at the dejected tone of Felix’ voice, and for himself as he knew just how improbable it was that Felix would ever find how to complete the bond, since that would mean-

Felix pouted, snuggling closer and wrapping his arms around Minho’s neck in turn, leaning his cheek against the top of Minho’s head. Minho’s thoughts scattered, everything in him demanding for him to just live in the moment.

“What does it feel like for you, the bond?” Felix eventually asked. Minho hummed, trying to buy time as he debated on how to answer, since he couldn’t give too much away, even if he wanted to. It took him a moment to find fitting words.

“Hm… It’s like… It’s like I just know whether you are nearby, or far away…” He started, tentatively, while taking one of Felix’ hands in his own and starting to play with his fingers pensively. “I know how you feel, without having to be near you. I can feel it when you are happy, and it feels like butterflies in my chest, but I know it’s your happiness and not my own. I feel when you are sad, or angry, or listless… And I know what I could do to make you feel better.” He smiled warmly. Knowing he could do that for Felix gave him a lot of satisfaction. “When we are working together, I feel your magic so clearly in the room, it’s like I can see it; and I know exactly where I need to pick up and jump in, where you need me to help. But most of all… I just feel you. It’s like you are always with me, as if you are always hugging me… Or at least holding my hand…” At that, he tightened his hold on Felix’ hand a little, caressing it extra tenderly afterwards.

Felix sighed wistfully when Minho trailed off, caressing along his jawline gently before reaching up with his free hand and brushing Minho’s hair out of his forehead.

“That sounds beautiful… Do you like it, like that?”

Minho nodded, tilting his head back to look up at Felix. The witch had no idea… “I wouldn’t want it any other way…”

Felix smiled wistfully, cupping his face in his hand and just staring down at him as if he had never seen anything quite as mesmerizing as his face before. Minho’s heart responded immediately with an increase of pace, almost hurting with the intensity it beat at, filling with so much hope… Hope Minho still didn’t want to feel, but how could he not, when Felix was looking at him like _that?!_

“Do you think it will feel like that for me, too?” Felix asked eventually, leaning half against Minho, half against the back of the couch in a slouch, but still holding on to Minho.

“I don’t know, Felix… I’m not sure if you would feel all the same things, since some of them are clearly just so I can support you, but others… They might feel the same…” Minho mused, his brows drawing together as he gave Felix’ question serious thought

“I hope it feels the same. I want to support you, and protect you, too. I want to know what to do to lift you up when you feel down, and all that... I wish it would feel exactly the same…” Felix smiled warmly with a faraway look on his face.

Minho’s heart squeezed funnily, and he smiled back at Felix’ words.

“Then I hope it feels the same way for you, too, if that would make you happy.”

“It would.”

They stayed cuddling on the couch for a while longer, but eventually Minho could start to feel the exhaustion settled deep in Felix’ bones taking over. He knew he had to urge Felix to go to bed, but Felix whined that didn’t want to move, and while Minho wouldn’t have minded if he stayed in his embrace forever, it was no place for the witch to sleep comfortably. He made up the excuse that he’d since lost all feeling in his legs, and while he felt a pang of guilt when Felix scrambled up hastily, thinking he had made Minho uncomfortable, he also didn’t mind that Felix insisted on helping him to the bedroom and into bed. And even if they had to give up their comfortable position on the couch, they could keep cuddling in bed, too, after all.

Felix fell asleep quickly once they were tucked in, but Minho couldn’t sleep, his heart once again beating loud and fast with anticipation as he held Felix close. He didn’t want to get his own hopes up, didn’t want to set himself up for disappointment, but… but… But! After Felix’ words earlier… He really, really hoped he was right! And with that hope, he eventually fell asleep, too.

He slept in the next morning, or at least that was what he believed must have happened when he was shaken from slumber by a frantic Felix; when normally, he would always wake up way before Felix.

“Minho, Minho, wake up!”

Minho blinked groggily, trying to gather his bearings.

“W-what… Wasgonon?” He mumbled, still half asleep.

“Minho, I- I don’t know what’s going on! Minho, I’m scared!”

That succeeded in waking him up fully, and he sat up abruptly, banishing sleep out of his eyes and mind as he took Felix’ distressed appearance in, hair sticking up wildly, eyes blown wide and complexion white as a sheet. He scanned the rest of the room, but couldn’t find anything out of the ordinary. He could, however, feel Felix’ fear in his own chest, and it _hurt_.

“Lix, you need to calm down… I don’t know what you’re talking about. What is it that is scaring you?” he tried to calm Felix down, holding his hands in his own and his gaze with his feline one.

“I- I feel so weird. I feel… like there’s something wrong. Something’s different, there is that… That feeling in my chest, like a heaviness, and I don’t know where it’s coming from. It doesn’t make _sense_ , and my head… I don’t know what it is, it’s like a- something, something feels like it’s trying to get _in-_ ”

“Into your head?!”

“Yes! Well, no, not my head, but my mind, I think… I had such a weird dream, it was like I was watching a scene from two different points of view at the same time. It was so confusing, and it woke me up, and then I felt like _this_ and- I don’t know what it is, and it’s scaring me!”

Minho exhaled in relief, even though there was seemingly nothing to be relieved about, not to Felix, at least. To Minho, it was pretty clear what Felix was feeling, and… But that was irrelevant for now, no matter how much it affected him. He had to take care of Felix first!

“Felix, it’s ok. Come here…” He spread his arms, inviting Felix for a hug, and Felix looked up at him warily.

“I promise, you’ll be ok. Come here, please? I want to hug you, so you feel safer. And then I’m going to show you something.” Minho pouted a little, but it melted away as soon as Felix scrambled into his arms.

“Can you hear my heartbeat, Lix?” Minho asked as he guided Felix’ head to his chest, and Felix followed willingly.

“Yeah…”

“Then focus on it. And when you feel like you know it well, look for your own heartbeat.”

Felix didn’t know what Minho was getting at, but he did as instructed. He was surprised at what he found, though.

“It’s- it’s the same! Our hearts are beating at exactly the same speed!”

“I know, Lix. They are beating as one. Now close your eyes, and focus on our heartbeat. On nothing else, just the sound of our hearts…”

And Felix did, while Minho focused, too, but on something else. He focused on conveying his own feelings, sending them to Felix and letting him feel them, deep in his own chest; but not as his own, but distinctly as Minho’s.

Felix gasped after a moment. “Minho…!”

Minho hummed that he was listening.

“Minho, is that…?”

Minho smiled lightly.

“Is this… Minho! Is this- did I- are we…?”

“Yes, Felix. It’s the bond. You did it.”

Felix gasped, jerking back, but just to stare openly at Minho.

“We’re bonded?! For real now?! Both of us?! Completely?!!”

Minho laughed quietly, though nothing, nothing could come even close to representing the pure happiness, the giddiness he felt in his heart, at what that meant. But Felix… Felix would be able to feel it, in his own chest.

“Yes, Felix. We are fully bonded now.”

Felix gasped, and then surged forward, in his exuberance knocking Minho over and back onto the mattress. He hugged him tight and pressed his lips against Minho’s in a wild kiss.

Minho was surprised by the kiss, but not against it. Reflexively, he held Felix in place as he kissed back. Eventually, all too soon, Felix had to come up for air, though.

“How?!” Was the first thing Felix demanded to know once he caught his breath, sitting back up, and Minho’s heart jumped as he followed him.

“The bond completes when the hearts align.”

Felix frowned at him, confusion clear on his face, and Minho had to suppress a massive urge to roll his eyes at the witch.

“What does that mean?”

“What do you think it means, hm? What caused me to become bonded to you?”

Felix thought about it for a moment. “You said you loved me…”

Minho nodded.

“Yes. And if our hearts aligned…” He prompted, and Felix gasped, eyes widening.

“Do you mean to tell me that all I had to do to complete this bond was to simply love you back? Really now?!”

Minho couldn’t help himself, he had to laugh loudly at that. “Yes, Felix, that was literally all it took!”

Felix gaped at him, then huffed with a mighty pout. “That is not fair. I have loved you for so long! I loved you the moment I first picked you up on that sidewalk in front of the Council building!”

Minho’s heart warmed incredibly at those words, but he had to shake his head.

“You may have loved me then already, but it wasn’t the love the bond required. It wasn’t the kind of love I feel for you _._ ”

Felix kept staring at him with his jaw slack, but eventually relaxed, closing his mouth as his expression softened.

“If what I feel now is what you have felt all this time…”

Minho nodded gently. “It is…”

“Wow…” Felix breathed quietly. “You love me a lot.”

Minho could only shake his head fondly at the witch, who was so smart, so capable, yet at the same time, sometimes… He didn’t finish that thought. Instead, he replied to Felix with the one truth he knew above everything else, the one truth that mattered in that moment, agreeing wholeheartedly with Felix.

“I do.”

**Author's Note:**

> Special thanks to Miki for helping me edit this story and making the whole thing make sense. And keeping me sane. And helping me improve my writing in general. Love that woman! ❤


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